Mumbai, Jan. 7: Congress leader Narayan Rane’s son Nitesh today forced a Marathi film-maker to defer his maiden release, objecting to a character that apparently resembles his father, the Maharashtra revenue minister.

Zenda (The Flag), which brings the Raj-Uddhav Thackeray feud to the silver screen for the first time, had been cleared by the Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) last evening.

Nitesh and his NGO Swabhiman then raised objections and demanded a special screening, saying the film’s promos showed a character resembling Narayan Rane.

Producer-director Avadhoot Gupte, a music director debuting in filmmaking, held a screening for Nitesh today. After watching the film, Nitesh demanded that certain scenes showing Sada Malwankar, an ambitious Konkan politician apparently modelled on Rane, be cut.

Gupte then announced he would not release the film tomorrow, when it was to be screened at 90 theatres in Maharashtra. He said he would re-shoot certain portions.

Asked why he had yielded to political pressure, Gupte said: “It is not my intention to hurt anybody. But ultimately as a filmmaker I want people to come and watch the film.

“If theatre owners are going to be scared to release the film, or fear of violence is going to stop people from watching it, I have no option but to remove the scenes and then release the film.”

The delay and re-shoot will raise Gupte’s expenses further from the Rs 2.5 crore he has already spent on the film.

Nitesh justified his stand. “We have no objections to the film. I would like Marathi films to achieve not just national but international acclaim,” he said. “But when you are showing a political personality, filmmakers have to be careful that he is not shown in a negative light.”

Gupte had campaigned for the Shiv Sena and composed the party’s poll songs. His film has several realistic references to the upheaval in state politics starting with the Sena’s expulsion of Rane in 2005 after he developed differences with party executive president Uddhav Thackeray.

Days after Rane left the Sena and joined the Congress, Uddhav’s cousin Raj also quit the party and formed the MNS.

The film shows actors with physical resemblance to Raj and Uddhav, and a character called Kaka Saheb apparently modelled on Sena chief Bal Thackeray but whose face is never shown. The character is established through shots showing a man wearing silk robes and rudraksha malas.

Zenda, which portrays how the politics of Marathi identity impacts four politicians in the (fictional) Jana Sena and Maharashtra Samarajya Sena, is essentially about the Shiv Sena split.

Earlier, Ram Gopal Varma’s Sarkar had Amitabh Bachchan play a character resembling Bal Thackeray.

Bollywood filmmakers have long suffered political censorship in Maharashtra. The latest instance was Karan Johar obliging Raj after the MNS objected to the use of “Bombay” for “Mumbai” in a dialogue in Wake Up Sid, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Konkona Sen Sharma.

Nitesh and Swabhiman had been in the news last month when they organised a protest against a water supply cut in Mumbai that led to clashes with police and the death of a demonstrator. The water cuts had been implemented in July but the protest came two days after the Sena bagged the mayor’s post, embarrassing Rane, the Congress’s man in charge of the mayor election.